“At one time, there were over 35 mom-and-pop stores within the city limits of Coatesville,” John Forese, a retired grocer, said, illustrating the prosperity once enjoyed by the only city in Chester County.

Alas, Coatesville’s economic health has mirrored that of the steel industry, once the city’s major employer. Lukens Steel employed approximately 6,000 people during the heyday of American steel, and those numbers have dwindled to almost 600.

Now, as this incredible video highlights, Coatesville is on the cusp of a renaissance. Multimillion-dollar projects are under way at the intersection of First Avenue and East Lincoln Highway and along North Third Avenue.

While many businesses fled during the city’s downturn, Coatesville Savings Bank remained. And was the only bank to do so.

“As a community bank, we felt it was our obligation to stay and stick through the thin times,” said Fred Henrich, CEO of Coatesville Savings. “We’ve been here for 98 years. We started as a savings and loan home association. We wanted to help people realize the dream of owning a home.

“Those dreams haven’t gone away.”

Indeed, the times are exciting in Coatesville, as the city has already begun to reinvent itself.

“I grew up on 11th Avenue, and you could ride your bike everywhere,” said Larry Chertok, the owner of Chertok’s Furniture and Mattress, a fourth-generation family business that started in 1902. “You could walk everywhere. You knew everyone.”

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